Man posing as Delhi LG contacts DDA officers on WhatsApp, FIR registered

New Delhi: The Delhi Police's Cyber Cell has registered an FIR against an unidentified person for allegedly posing as Delhi Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena, officials said.

The FIR was filed on May 25 on the basis of a complaint lodged by the Delhi Development Authority's (DDA) Vigilance Department alleging that the fraudster contacted two of its officers on WhatsApp on May 23.

According to the FIR, the two vigilance officers first received WhatsApp calls from an unknown number and the caller introduced himself as Saxena. The officers were surprised to hear this and disconnected the calls.

The caller had also put a picture of the LG as his display picture (DP).

The accused also sent text messages to the two officers that read, "Hi, I am Delhi LG Vinai Kumar Saxena."

"It seems that the intent of the fraudster was to intimidate these officers and demand money on one pretext or the other. But the officers were alert and didn't fall in the trap. They immediately reported the matter to their seniors and an alert was sounded in the department," an officer privy to the matter said.

A case has been registered in the matter under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and the IT Act, he said.

According to officials, there have been several cases in which people have been duped by fraudsters using this modus operandi.

"These criminals get people's pictures from social networking sites and use them as their WhatsApp DPs. Then these criminals call relatives, friends and family members of these people and demand money citing some emergency," a cyber crime officer said.

"Many people fall into this trap and transfer money online to these criminals. We have registered several cases and some of them have also been arrested.

"We have been creating awareness among the masses and educating them about the modus operandi of these criminals. People need to be very careful these days," he said.

According to the officer, it is very difficult to track such criminals as they get mobile SIM cards and open bank accounts using fake documents.